I was going to upload this tomorrow before work but maaaan you guys are super awesome, so I finished it and am going to leave it here for you all to enjoy while I go prepare to fail some tests tomorrow. Thank you for being such great readers, I love the lot of ya.
Bo and Tamsin enter the hall before Kenzi and Dyson even make it to the steps, and are met by a group of no less than a dozen women waiting in full regalia for them just inside the door. They are all massive, wearing armor similar to Tamsin's, their swords also drawn.
"Tamsin", one steps forward, "turn back now. This does not concern you – it is out of your hands."
The blonde raises her sword and points it directly at the woman, Bo following suit.
"Move. Now."
When she doesn't, Tamsin takes a slow step forward and places the tip of the blade against her throat.
"Move."
Still she doesn't, and without hesitation, Tamsin draws back the blade and takes a broad stroke at the opposing woman's armored midsection. Bo is taken back at how fast it happens, but doesn't have time to truly react – before the woman's body even hits the ground, a bloody mess from hip to breast, the other women lunge at the pair. The following moments are a whirlwind – Tamsin and Bo back against each other and fight off the remaining woman as best as they can. Bo is doing her best to simply knock them out or otherwise incapacitate them without killing them, but Tamsin isn't being nearly as merciful. When the shuffling of feet and clanging of metal on metal final stops, Bo turns to see the majority of the woman dismembered in front of Tamsin. She gasps, and goes to scream at Tamsin, to tell her that she shouldn't be killing these woman, they're her sisters Bo thinks, but the valkyrie has already moved on to the next onslaught of warriors that has come to stop them from entering the hall. She, single-handedly and just as easily, disposes of the next group in the same way; leaving their dismembered bodies and limbs strewn about the now destroyed entrance to the hall without so much as stopping to wipe the blood from her face.
As the valkyrie enters the main room of the hall, the first thing she sees is her father's form sitting on a throne at the head of the room; he is just as massive as she remembers, his long gray hair and braided beard the same as it was when she was last here hundreds of years ago. His gaze falls upon her, the simple black eye patch she remembers from her youth replaced with a brazen one of gold, but his eye is just as cold as it is outside. She can't stop the gasp, or fight back the tears, when her eyes finally fall on Lauren's bruised and battered body laying on the cold ground at her father's feet. Choosing to swallow the string of insults and curses on the tip of her tongue (at least for now), Tamsin rushes to Lauren and falls to her knees next to her.
"I'm here, Lauren", she picks up Lauren's head gingerly, placing it in her lap. She wasn't expecting the extent of the damage she saw there - her face, much like the rest of the doctor's exposed skin, was covered deep gashes and dried blood. Her left arm, dangling lifelessly and broken next to her, is a bruise from wrist to elbow. "Oh god. Baby I'm here."
Lauren's eyes open slowly, taking a second to adjust to the oh so familiar onslaught of pain and to the blurriness of her vision. She smiles softly at Tamsin, not sure she is actually there or if she is just having a wonderful dream until her good arm raises and her fingers graze the bruise on Tamsin's jaw softly.
"Hi baby. Hi", Tamsin swallows the sobs that threaten to take her over, "I'm here. Are you okay?"
"What happened to your jaw?"
Tamsin can't help the choked half laugh, half sob that escapes her lips this time.
"Good god, can you please turn the doctor off for 10 seconds?"
Lauren tries to return the valkyrie's forced smile but just can't muster it. She head is pounding, her arm throbbing, her entire body buzzing with pain. Her vision starts to tunnel out, the loose grasp she had on her consciousness starting to get even looser. As Lauren's eyes begin to flicker shut, Tamsin says her name to try to keep her focus - when that doesn't work, she starts tapping Lauren's face with the hand not supporting the doctor's head. That rouses her, however momentarily, and she uses the last bit of strength she has to look at Tamsin and force a small, pained smile. The doctor's soft brown eyes meet the valkyrie's piercing green, the tears falling freely now as Tamsin sobs.
"Shh", Lauren whispers. "Don't cry. You're beautiful."
A million things fly between them in their simple gaze, Tamsin unable to stop crying as she watches the doctor start to falter. She wants to just pick her up and walk away with her – if only it could be that simple. But nothing is ever that simple.
"I'm so sorry Tamsin."
Tamsin chokes on a sob.
"Lauren, you have nothing to be sorry for."
Lauren raises her hand to cup Tamsin's cheek – the valkyrie holds the cold hand against her face, not caring at all that she'll have a bloody hand print there later, and places a sloppy kiss to it just as the doctor finally slips into unconsciousness. Tamsin allows herself to fall forward over Lauren's body and whispers soft 'I love you's into her hair. Her father's laughter pulls her from her grief, which is quickly replaced with a blinding rage. Tamsin looks up at Odin, who is staring down at her smugly from his place on the throne at the front of the hall.
"Why?", she spits at him, "Why this? Was simply breaking into my home and taking her from me in the middle of the fucking night not enough? You had to beat her within an inch of her life before you even sentenced her?!"
He grins at her (if it wasn't for her girlfriend's fragile body laying in her lap, she would have lunged at him then and there), his gaze full of amusement, before speaking – Tamsin almost jumped; she had forgotten how commanding his voice was, how booming it sounded as it bounced off every wall in the large throne room.
"She attacked one of your own. Have you no sense of sisterhood, my child?"
"Sisterhood?", Tamsin spits. "This has nothing to do with sisterhood!"
Bo had ran back to gather Kenzi and Dyson, and the group entered the large room just in time to catch Tamsin's string of curses and insults being laughed at by her father. Bo was heading the group as usual, her sword still drawn, but let her guard down for a second when she saw the valkyrie on the ground with Lauren's limp body in her lap. Tamsin heard the distinct sound of boots clicking behind her, and turned to catch Bo's terrified gaze. As the small 'army' approached, the succubus rushed ahead even further and knelt down next to Tamsin.
"She's alive." Tamsin said to her quietly as she stroked Lauren's matted hair off of her face, knowing that Bo was too afraid to ask. "Barely."
Bo ran a gentle hand over Lauren's broken arm, swallowing the lump in her throat and she took in the rest of her injuries.
"I can heal her, Tamsin. Just... give me some of your chi. If we don't do something fast I don't know-"
"That won't work here, Bo."
Tamsin sighs, defeated. Odin is God here - without his permission, Bo won't be able to use any of her powers. Dyson, either. If he doesn't want it to happen, it won't – no ifs, ands, or buts about it. Bo opens her mouth to argue, knowing that time is of the essence and the doctor's condition is getting worse by the second, but Tamsin cuts her off.
"Sit with her. Do not leave her side, Bo, so help me God." Tamsin eyes the succubus seriously, who nods as she sits next to her and allows Tamsin to reposition Lauren into her own lap. Before standing, Tamsin places a kiss on her forehead. As she stands and adjusts the heavy armor on her chest, she takes a threatening step towards her father with her chin raised high and sword still in hand.
"You are about to get the sharpest part of my boot up your ass, old man."
"My my, Tamsin!", Odin's booming laughter fills the hall again, "You have acquired quite the venomous tongue during your time spent on Earth."
"What do you want for her? I will give you anything, old man. Anything. Do you want my valkyrie? My life? Take it! As long as she gets to leave here with my friends. Alive."
He cocks an eyebrow at his daughter, more defiant than ever.
"You would give up your wings for this human, child? Your very essence?"
"I would give up anything for her."
Odin eyes her suspiciously, before a brilliant idea strikes him. Why take away the essence of one of his best warriors, of his own daughter, when he could gain so much more through this one human?
"I will let the human live."
Bo, Dyson, and Kenzi let out relieved sighs, but Tamsin knows there is going to be more to it than just being allowed to walk out of here with her.
"But?", she questions. He smiles at her, happy she knew better than to get excited.
"She must prove her worth to me. If she wishes to live, she must prove to me that she deserves to live."
"You can't be serious", she breathes out, her arms dropping to side. "There's no way she is going to be able to pass that test! She is a human, father. A human! That is meant for valkyries, for valkyries with years of experience!"
"I'm not asking her to fight, Tamsin. Simply to survive."
"Fuck no", she spits. "Fuck you. I am offering up my valkyrie to fight for her, isn't that a more enticing offer? Wouldn't you rather destroy me than her?"
"These are my conditions, child. Either take them, or the human is mine to pass judgment upon."
Tamsin lets out an angry breath through her nose before craning her neck to look at Lauren, still unconscious on the succubus' lap. Bo is looking at Tamsin with scared eyes, as are Kenzi and Dyson from their places against the wall. Of all the things Tamsin has walked away from, this will definitely not be one of them. She'll find a way to get Lauren through this.
"Fine", she says angrily as she turns back around to face Odin. "Fine! But Bo gets to heal her first. At least give her a chance."
He contemplates for a moment, before smiling - it makes Tamsin cringe how big it is, how it is all teeth and no meaning.
"The succubus may heal the human. You may prepare for one hour. Then, the test shall begin."
Letting out a growl of frustration, Tamsin turns and storms out of the hall – she walks straight past Bo and Dyson as they gingerly lift Lauren and to the cold, biting snow storm just outside. She draws her sword, and immediately begins to flail in against the first tree she sees. By the time Kenzi reaches her the tree is a mangled lump of wood, and Tamsin is an angry sobbing mess sitting in the snow, her sword discarded and helmet thrown.
"Tamsin...", the small woman begins softly, but finds that this is no time for softness; she roughly grabs the blonde's shoulders roughly pulls her to her feet. "Tamsin! You need to get your shit together, and you need to help Lauren right now! Be angry later."
The valkyrie shakes out of her grasp bit doesn't drop their eye contact. Catching her breath, and slowing the angry tears that burn her cold cheeks, Tamsin sighs.
"What am I supposed to do? Bo is the only one that can heal her. I can't do anything for her now."
"Bo needs your chi so she can give it to Lauren. So go get your face sucked so we can get our Hotpants back."